Wednesday, September 4, 2013

TSA Pre✓™ Expands to 60 Additional Airports

Today we announced that a total of 100 airports will have
TSA Pre✓™ screening available by the end of
the year. Eligible passengers traveling on Alaska Airlines, American Airlines,
Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, and Virgin
America may receive expedited screening benefits. JetBlue and Southwest are
expected to begin participating when operationally ready. To read the list
of airports and more exciting news about TSA Pre✓™, click here.

If you have not experienced TSA Pre✓™, it is an expedited screening program that allows
pre-approved airline travelers to leave on their shoes, light outerwear and
belt, keep their laptop in its case and their 3-1-1 compliant liquids/gels bag
in a carry-on in select screening lanes. To date, more than 15 million
passengers have experienced TSA Pre✓™ since it launched in October 2011. Go here
for more information about opting into TSA Pre✓™.

28 comments:

As a Pre-check member, it would be of more value to your members and eligible travelers if you would PLEASE list the airports in the the following format:

Burbank (BUR) Bob Hope Airport

Guam (GUM) Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport

Most passengers are not familiar with the airport's official name, only in what city it's located. Sure, for multi-city airports (Chicago, New York, Houston, Dallas, etc.) the name is necessary to include, but please list the city FIRST.

There is a lot of potential in TSA-Pre. The program should be expanded and the fees increased to cover costs. An initial fee and monthly or per-trip billing should be included. Otherwise non-traveling taxpayers are footing the costs for the travelers. TSA's costs should be fully funded by the travelers.

The Pre Check screening should be the standard screening method for all passengers, unless there is suspicion that the passenger is up to no good. You can continue to do the random selection for additional screening that is currently being done.

You talk about risk based screening, but 99.9999...+% of passengers are not risks.

It would be great if you would clarify the Pre eligibility rules. At the moment my understanding is that Global Entry members who are US nationals or Canadians are eligible. Dutch and German Global Entry members, however, are not. What is the rationale behind this?

Great, so a few more people can pay for the "privilege" of being "granted" the possibility of being treated a little more like they have the rights EVERYONE should have in the first place at no cost.

Does the TSA think the flying public should be grateful for the agency piecemealing back a few of our Constitutional rights for a price?

"Thank you, Screener Smith for only searching (and possibly stealing and breaking) my property because you didn't force me to take off my shoes and didn't assault me THIS TIME?"

The $85 is just an overpriced processing fee. Does it really take over 6 manhours ($15/hr data clerk) to Google someone? And because your vaunted "trusted traveller" who may have OK credit and no convictions you could find doesn't live near one of your 100 airports or the local screener is having a bad day doesn't get this "privilege."

Another waste of money and time for flyers. Another way to pathetically attempt to justify invading the privacy of Americans and put more data in your bloated DHS databases.

With 60 more airports (100 total soon if I counted correctly) if a traveler has TSA Pre Check the liquid rules need to go away. As silly as the rules are (the total lack of secure disposal seems to confirm that) it made a kind of sense to keep them when so few routes had Pre Check on either end. The Global Entry ID means the traveler has been vetted though. Maybe at non Pre Check locations the otherwise trusted traveler still has to take his shoes off and take out his baggie but if he's vetted there shouldn't be a freak out over him having more than 300 ml of liquids. You can still randomly test the liquids from this pool of trusted travelers. The official line is testing everyone isn't practical. Well not everyone is in this trusted traveler program so liquid rule should go away if you have it with advisory you may get a random test. I can't be the only one who makes faces hoping I can get enough toothpaste out of the travel size to brush my teeth.

Make TSA Pre mandatory, get the fees in line with the costs of TSA and collect the fees up-front with the purchase of the airline ticket. This solution gets the TSA creates a revenue stream and out of the taxpayer's pocket.

"U.S. travelers will be chosen on a case-by-case basis to use expedited-screening lines at airports without having to provide more personal information than they now give airlines, the Transportation Security Administration said."

Does this mean that the TSA has dropped its plan to extort $85 from passengers in order to be granted what all passengers should have: an assault-free trip through a checkpoint.

My wife and I aren't avid flyers, but I am tired of having to take my shoes off and back on, and other issues I have that aren't major but still an issue. So, I am almost willing to pay the $85p.p. to get on Pre-Check. I am glad they are going to do it in OKC!!! Do you have an actual date of when it will start?

So in otherwords, as long as I pay an $85 bribe, I will not be treated like a criminal and I'm all of a sudden safe. If I don't pay, I'm still a threat. And this is while how many "trusted" TSA people are still being arrested for crimes??????

samhein said...So in otherwords, as long as I pay an $85 bribe, I will not be treated like a criminal and I'm all of a sudden safe. If I don't pay, I'm still a threat. And this is while how many "trusted" TSA people are still being arrested for crimes??????

Disgusting! Isn't extortion illegal?

Actually, the $85 only give you a chance that you'll keep your rights. Because of "randomness," you may still have to give up your rights, even though you've paid the extortion fee.

I can see that you know nothing of what you are talking. TSA officers only make sure people retain their right to travel safely. You should thank Officer Smith. There is a lot of people on TSA and DHS performing their duty every Day with dignity and respect. As I said before you talk of what you do not know and judge TSA officers based on your own bad attitudes.

"TSA officers only make sure people retain their right to travel safely."

Actually, they're not. They are there to make it appear that the government is "doing something" about the supposed terrorist threat (which, BTW, even the TSA admits does not exist)... This is known as "security theater" and, many experts argue, actually make us all less safe rather than more. Are you arguing that the experts are wrong?